Posted by: twodogtales | April 10, 2011

A look ahead: PawCasso and Lucky Dog benefits April 16

Saturday April 16 offers dog-friendly events to appeal to both dressed-to-the-nines city-dwellers and their downtown dogs as well as the laid-back, country-casual crowd:

PawCasso 2011

Arlington-based Homeward Trails Animal Rescue hosts PawCasso, their biggest fundraiser of the year on Saturday April 16 from 6:00-11:00 p.m. in the heart of downtown at the Washington Post building.

Attire is cocktail and collars–but don’t worry, the collar is for your pooch! Yes, the event is dog-friendly. (Make sure your dog is leashed and well-behaved, too.)

Attendees can bid on the works of more than 30 local artists in a live auction, or stealthily snap up fabulous items in a silent auction featuring more than $10,000 worth of donated goods and services including certificates for massages and restaurants, vacation home stays, yoga classes, and private airplane rides.

There will be live jazz, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts from Sidestreet Catering. The Washington Post building is at 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071.

Tickets are $55 per person, $10 more if you bring your dog. Buy tickets online at:  http://www.homewardtrails.org/pawcasso

Lucky Dog Rescue fundraiser at Barrel Oak Winery

If you’re more comfortable in jeans on a Saturday night, take a scenic drive about an hour west of D.C. and hit Barrel Oak Winery’s Lucky Dog Rescue fundraiser from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

This dog-friendly wine tasting extravaganza will have music by the I-IV-Vs,  hors d’oeuvres, and chances are you’ll get to catch a breathtaking  rolling countryside sunset.

Advance online tickets are $35 per person or $60 per couple with a wine tasting, $20 per person without wine. At the door tickets will be $5 more. Buy tickets at: http://www.luckydoganimalrescue.org/lucky-dogs-annual-barrel-oak-wine-tasting-extravaganza

Check out some pictures of Barrel Oak festivities below:

Leave a Comment

Posted in Events, Helping animals, Things to do | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: twodogtales | April 7, 2011

Paws-itively adorable photos of your pooch

Bill Owen Photography

Ever wanted one of those cute, quirky portrait photographs of your dog? You know the ones—frame-worthy images that capture a dog’s true personality?

This weekend, April 8-10, at Dog Paws ‘n Cat Claws at 940 South George Mason Drive in Arlington you have your chance, with professional pet photographer Bill Owen.

For just $90 you get a 45-minute fine art photo session, two 8×10 glossy prints to take home that day, and a set of the best 10 images from the session emailed to you within a week.

Best of all, not only are you getting great art to adorn your living room walls, you’re also helping homeless animals—because 20 percent of the proceeds from the event benefit Arlington-based Homeward Trails Animal Rescue.

Homeward Trails seeks to find permanent adoptive homes in the Mid-Atlantic Region for dogs and cats from high-kill shelters or whose owners can no longer care for them. Over the past 9 years they have placed more than 9,500 in new forever homes.  

Dog Paws and Cat Claws is about a 5-minute drive from Shirlington Village, so when you’re done with your pets glamour shots, you can take them over to the Shirlington dog park and let them ruin all your grooming with a swim in Four Mile Run!

All Saturday appointments are sold out, but there is still availability on Friday and Sunday. Call Dog Paws and Cat Claws at 703-931-5057 to book an appointment.

You can see more samples of Owen’s work below, and on his website www.owendogphotography.com.

Bill Owen Photography

 

Bill Owen Photography

 

Bill Owen Photography

Leave a Comment

Posted in Events, Helping animals | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: twodogtales | March 26, 2011

Just for fun: Mutt Madness

Is your idea of “Sweet Sixteen” the kisses you get from your pup when you get home from a long day at the office, not a bunch of college kids shooting hoops? Then check out the “Slobbery Sixteen” now vying for votes in the Mutt Madness 2011 contest.

Sponsored by the 10th Annual Pet Fiesta at Reston Town Center, and presented by the MIX 107.3 radio station, Mutt Madness is a fun online contest. Just like the college basketball tournament, the contest started with 64 entries. Dogs advance through the rounds based on the number of online votes they receive. Voting is currently in the third round, the “slobbery sixteen.”

The next voting round, March 29-31, will narrow the pups to eight, then the “furry four” will be chosen April 1-3, followed by the championship on April 4. The top dog will take home a gift basket filled with gift cards and goodies from Reston Town Center merchants valued at $1,000.

It’s too late to enter your pooch in Mutt Madness, but if you think you have a contest-worthy cute dog and don’t care that the only prize is a picture in a magazine you can frame and brag about, you can still enter Northern Virginia Magazine’s “Cute Puppy” contest.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Contests, Cool stuff | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: twodogtales | March 22, 2011

Three Pups in the Park Nationals games in 2011

Last year both of the Washington Nationals’ Pups in the Park games sold out, so this season, they’ve scheduled three!

The games are:

  • Saturday, May 14 at 1:05 p.m. vs. the Florida Marlins
  • Saturday, July 9 at 7:05 p.m. vs. the Colorado Rockies
  • Saturday, Sept. 24 at 1:05 p.m. vs. the Atlanta Braves

Photo from http://www.nationals.com website from 2010 Pups in the Park

Tickets are $20 for humans and $5 for dogs, and 100 percent of every dog ticket goes to help shelter animals at the Washington Humane Society.

The Nationals have set aside a seating area in the Outfield Reserved sections 140-143 for “Pups in the Park” participants. A limited number of tickets will be sold.

Ticket holders will receive an email with directions for entering the park, and a waiver requiring proof of rabies and bordetella vaccinations prior to the game date. The signed waiver must be turned in order for the dog to be admitted to the park.

An important thing to take into consideration before buying tickets is how well your dog will react to crowds, cheering, and especially the fireworks that go off when the Nationals hit a home run or win the game. While enjoying a great baseball game with your best four-legged pal is a treat, comforting a traumatized pooch is not.

All dogs must have an official dog ticket to enter the ballpark. To buy tickets for “Pups in the Park,” go to www.nationals.com/pups.

For more information or for group sales, contact Katherine Mitchell 202-640-7649 or Katherine.Mitchell@nationals.com.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Events, Helping animals, Things to do | Tags: ,

Posted by: twodogtales | March 14, 2011

Could you save your dog’s life?

Last week, a video of a dog trainer giving an unconscious Boxer chest compressions went viral. Back in January, USA Today reported on a Missouri family whose Golden Retriever was revived with CPR by their landscaper after losing consciousness.

Luckily, the dogs all survived their ordeals. But if your beloved canine companion stopped breathing, would you know what to do? Could you forgive yourself if the unthinkable happened and you didn’t know how to help?

Unfortunately, pet owners can’t dial 9-1-1 to have an ambulance distpatched to the location of the emergency within minutes. So it is critically important for pet owners to know basic life-saving measures.

Here in the Washington area, the local Red Cross offers Cat and Dog First Aid classes that teach pet owners useful first aid as well as essential life-saving measures for your pets. The next local class is Wednesday, March 16 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the National Capital Region’s Headquarters in Fairfax, Va. Cost is $60.

There is at least one class each month for the rest of the year in the greater Washington, D.C. area, however, all the remaining classes are in La Plata, Md., or Manassas, Va.

Find out the dates and locations of Red Cross pet first aid classes here.

If you can’t make a class anytime soon, the Red Cross also publishes a helpful book, “Be Red Cross Ready Safety Series Vol. 2: Dog First Aid.” It sells for $16.95 and covers topics such as:

  • Symptoms and care for common ailments and emergencies
  • Instructions for creating a pet first aid kit, giving medications and how to recognize emergencies
  • First aid guidance on caring for nearly 70 canine health conditions

If you’re a visual learner, there’s also a DVD that shows how to perform many of the first aid steps in the book.

 

2 Comments

Posted in Events, Helpful info, Helping animals, Things to do | Tags: , ,

Posted by: twodogtales | March 7, 2011

Shop ’til you drop at the Dulles Super Pet Expo March 18-20

Shop more than 150 pet product and service vendors while enjoying family- and pet-friendly live entertainment at the Super Pet Expo March 18-20 at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Va. Best of all, leashed pets are welcome so you won’t have to hope you guessed right on the size of that adorable polka-dot ribbon collar–you can try it on your pup right there!

Entertainment includes the EVO World Class Frisbee Dogs, the Mutts Gone Nuts comedy dog thrill show, and Smithfield the Painting Pig. Also appearing will be the stars of National Geographic Channel reality show “Rescue Ink,” a self-proclaimed “army of tattooed, motorcycle-riding street guys who have zero tolerance for animal abuse and neglect.”

You may or may not really want to know what your pet is thinking, but you’ll get the chance to find out with free two-minute sessions with animal communicators Chuck and Suzanne Fisher. If you want to know why your pet acts like they do without asking them directly, you can pose your questions to representatives from the International Association of Canine Professionals.

Finally, if you think your pooch has television-star qualities, attend the “Getting Your Pet Into Show Business” free workshop with Dawn Wolfe, owner of Pawsitively Famous Animal Actors. Dawn is also the talent coordinator for the Animal Planet show “Dogs 101,” and she will be evaluating pets for modeling and talent opportunities.

Tickets are $13 adult, and $6 child, and can be purchased online or at the door. If you buy an adult ticket online, you can get one child ticket for free. Kids under three are free.

The Dulles Expo Center is at 4368 Chantilly Shopping Center, Chantilly, VA 20153.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Shop ’til you drop at the Super Pet Expo March 18-20 – Arlington Dogs | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-arlington/shop-til-you-drop-at-the-super-pet-expo-march-18-20#ixzz1FyKwgqLu

Leave a Comment

Posted in Cool stuff, Events, Things to do | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted by: twodogtales | March 1, 2011

Barking driving you crazy?

Your dog’s barking can be cute — when it’s on cue. Or useful, when they’re warning strangers away from your door. But when your dog’s vocalizing goes beyond the norm and becomes excessive, it can be frustrating and even cause you to react with anger, which is never productive with a pet. At that point, it’s time to get help.

The Washington Human Society Behavior & Learning Center is hosting “Decoding the Bark: Interpreting & Managing Your Dog’s Excessive Barking,” on Thursday, March 31 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. For just $15, you can learn why your dog is barking, what he is trying to say to you, and how you can prevent barking overload.

During the seminar the behavior and training counselor will describe what the different types of bark are (there are seven to ten different ones!) and what emotions your pooch is trying to convey with them. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions specific to your situation during the Q&A–but don’t expect the counselor to analyze your dog’s yips and yelps in person, the seminar is humans-only.

Find out more information and sign up online here.

You must pre-register, and seats are limited. The seminar will be held at the WHS facility at 7315 Georgia, Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20012.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Barking driving you crazy? – Arlington Dogs | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-arlington/barking-driving-you-crazy?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1FJm4xcUn

Leave a Comment

Posted in Events, Helpful info, Things to do | Tags: , ,

Posted by: twodogtales | February 14, 2011

Must-see tv for dog lovers: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show – Arlington Dogs | Examiner.com

Must-see tv for dog lovers: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show – Arlington Dogs | Examiner.com.

If you haven’t been able to tell by my last two posts, I’m trying something new. I got the (we’ll see how) coveted assignment for Examiner.com to be the official one-and-only (I think, anyway) ArlingtonDogs Examiner.

It gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge with a much broader audience, and, even get paid…or so they say. That depends on a variety of factors such as click-throughs, page sponsors, etc.

So for the basic, here’s-some-info-for-local-dog-lovers posts, I’ll post them at: http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-arlington/gwyn-donohue and provide a link here. And anything with a more personal, first-person angle, will go here only.

But please “subscribe” to my feed on Examiner, I think it helps my credibility and possibly any potential paycheck… Wish me luck!

Leave a Comment

Posted in Events, News | Tags:

Posted by: twodogtales | February 13, 2011

Don’t forget a smooch for your pooch on Valentine’s Day – Arlington Dogs | Examiner.com

Don’t forget a smooch for your pooch on Valentine’s Day – Arlington Dogs | Examiner.com.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Cool stuff, Helpful info, Things to do | Tags: ,

Posted by: twodogtales | February 5, 2011

Cupcakes, pupcakes and terrier tackles

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu’s lengthy locks may be insured for $1 million, but a different kind of fur will draw pet lovers to their televisions a few hours before tomorrow’s Super Bowl. Beginning at 3 p.m., Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl returns for the seventh consecutive year.

The irresistibly cute puppies tumble, fumble and tackle each other in “aww”-inspiring entertainment. This year Animal Planet will introduce a competitor-point-of-view Puppy Cam, as well as chicken cheerleaders on the sidelines. A stadium staple, the Kiss Cam, will also debut.

Choose your favorite canine competitor ahead of time with the online puppy starting lineup, which features each puppy’s name, age, breed(s), a fun fact and the rescue organization they came from.

Cat lovers shouldn’t feel left out, the halftime show is all about kittens.

If you’re heading out to a Super Bowl party on Sunday, a dozen Fashion for Paws-themed cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes makes the perfect host gift.

Through April 9, Georgetown Cupcakes is selling special “Vanilla Purrfection” and “Houndcake” chocolate and vanilla buttercream-frosted cupcakes decorated with a fondant Fashion for Paws logo.

The $2.75 treats are being sold at the Georgetown and Bethesda locations and online, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Washington Humane Society.

If you’re going to feel guilty about downing a delicious cupcake in front of your dog, try making “Pupcakes” for him or her with this quick, easy recipe from Food.com. With tasty ingredients like carrots and molasses, you may just end up sampling one yourself…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Cool stuff, Events, Helping animals, Things to do | Tags: , , , , ,

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started